1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to devices for maintaining water pressure in water systems where water pressure is lost.
2. Background Description
Throughout the world, building structures (homes and businesses) rely on external sources of water (private well, public water utilities, or community water systems). These water systems are dependent upon private or public/community provided sources of water and water pressure. Water pressure can be lost from a variety of electrical or mechanical failures in the systems that supply water. For systems whose water pressure depends upon electrical power, loss of electrical power to the system can cut off the water supply. Events such as weather, natural disaster, electrical grid malfunctions, terrorist attack on utility systems, or electrical problems within the building structure, may then leave occupants of the home or building without water. For periods of time where loss of water can be an inconvenience, activities requiring a supply of running water may have to be rescheduled or delayed. For extended periods of time, this loss of water can lead to unsanitary conditions that can be detrimental to health.
There are a number of prior art responses to the cutoff of water pressure, or the prospect that water pressure may be cut off. For example, some building occupants may prepare for the loss of externally provided water by investing in an on-site storage and delivery system. The occupants then store water in a range of container sizes to ensure a short term supply of potable water, or water required for their business operations. These types of systems will typically utilize the force of gravity to provide limited pressurization of their stored water supply. However, it is often difficult to position this stored water in such a fashion that adequate pressure is obtained by gravity.
A simpler—but not uncommon—approach, when expecting or experiencing the loss of power to a building, particularly those on a well system, is for its occupants to purchase water on the consumer market for use during the power outage. Snow storms, electrical storms, tornadoes, and hurricanes, for example, can all cause the loss of power to a building, and by extension, to its well pump. Local consumer markets, anticipating the demand for purchased water, typically sell water in a range of container sizes. While making water available for purchase provides water for the most basic requirements, this alternative can be expensive, and inconvenient, as the consumer must travel to a store providing the water for sale on the local market. Some buildings on well systems are not conveniently located to a point of water sale, or travel to a store to purchase water is difficult, at best, or hazardous to impossible, should an ice storm, heavy snow, or flooding, for example, be responsible for the loss of electrical power to the building's well pump or the community water supply.
Additionally, in areas preparing for or experiencing a wide loss of community provided water pressure, or where the integrity of the water supply may be in question, it is not uncommon for the local, state, or federal governments to make water available in portable containers, or by delivering potable water to communities at centralized delivery locations. Again, the very environmental or infrastructure conditions responsible for the loss of power or interruption in service from a community water supply may make travel to the centralized water supply point difficult or hazardous.
Electrical generators provide another alternative in the event that loss of electrical power is the cause of an interruption in water pressure. For buildings whose water supply is provided by a well pump system, external generators, either portable or permanently installed and automatically activated, can provide electrical power to a well pump during the loss of utility provided electrical power. In this alternative, the generator may be connected directly to the electrical circuit of the well pump, or may be connected to the building's main power panel to provide power to a range of the building's components requiring electrical power, including the well pump.
In the most cost-effective instantiation of this alternative, the generator must be physically connected to the electrical components, manually started, and periodically refueled and maintained. Additionally, the generator must be located outside of the building due to hazardous fumes created by the generator. Particularly for private residences, the least costly generators will provide the basic electrical requirements only to a select group of 120 volt A/C appliances or building components, and may require the use of extension cords into which the appliances or components will connect to the generator.
Generator alternatives that are permanently installed, connected to the building's main power panel, and automatically activated when there is a loss of externally provided power, must also need to be periodically refueled and maintained. Also, if sufficiently sized to provide 240 volt A/C power for a building's largest power consuming components, this alternative will be very expensive compared to other alternatives, unless there are other economic reasons besides restoration of water pressure justifying investment in a generator.
The prior art also provides mechanisms for controlling pressure variations in water systems, but these pressure control systems do not provide for simple interruption or loss of water pressure for any length of time. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,013,924 discloses a fluid pressure system having a free floating gas or air filled bladder that serves to absorb pressure variations transmitted within a closed system. There is no indication that the pressure regulation mechanism would be operable to maintain pressure more than momentarily where there is a complete loss of water pressure.
None of the foregoing alternatives provide a satisfactory substitute for water pressure that has been lost. What is needed is a simple and inexpensive system for restoring water pressure which has been interrupted for a significant period of time.